Abstract

A system and method for precision crop trimming in vineyard and vine-like crop environments employs a dual-anchor articulated-mast architecture deployable in both spanning and lateral orientations. Two omnidirectional ground anchor robots, each incorporating a rotating central mast interface permitting independent yaw, support a telescoping gantry structure with an adjustable crossbar. At least one interchangeable cutting head is suspended from the gantry, traveling vertically along a carriage system and rotating about its longitudinal axis. A lateral tilt mechanism at each robot pivot tilts the gantry approximately 15 to 30 degrees from vertical, enabling variable approach angles in spanning configuration and lateral reach over crop rows in parallel configuration. Ground anchor robots may adopt off-axis angular orientations to widen the stability footprint. A multi-spectrum sensor system captures visible and non-visible spectrum data from multiple vantage points, feeding a three-dimensional reconstruction system. A central planner orchestrates all components with hierarchical control and actuator-level safety denial. The system supports continuous scan-and-cut, iterative progressive, full-grid scan-then-optimize, and scan-only operational modes, with persistent cross-session models enabling longitudinal crop tracking. The architecture is modularly scalable to three or more anchor robots for enhanced stability.

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

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